The six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the
Korean Peninsula will restart in Beijing on February 8, the Foreign
Ministry said yesterday.
"As a result of the consultations of the parties concerned, the
third phase of the fifth-round six-party talks will resume on
February 8," ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news
briefing.
The last phase recessed in December without a breakthrough
following five days of negotiations.
"There have been contacts between the various parties on how to
move the talks forward and implement the joint statement of
September 19, 2005," in which Pyongyang agreed to give up its
nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security
guarantees, Jiang said, adding that these contacts have laid the
foundation for the resumption of the talks.
The past week saw a wave of diplomatic visits to Beijing by
negotiators from the US, North Korea, South Korea and Japan. Top US
negotiator Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim
Kye-gwan met in Berlin in mid-January.
The statement came as the US and North Korea began talks in
Beijing yesterday afternoon about financial sanctions imposed on
Pyongyang by Washington.
Daniel Glaser, the top US delegate to the financial talks, told
reporters yesterday that he hoped for "progress" following meetings
with his North Korean counterpart O Kwang-chol, president of the
country's Foreign Trade Bank.
"We are prepared to go through with these talks for as long as
it takes to get through our agenda," said Glaser, the Treasury
Department's deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and
financial crimes.
Pyongyang had named Washington's financial restrictions as their
reason for boycotting the six-party talks, but the latter insists
these sanctions are related to North Korea's alleged illicit
financial activities and are wholly unrelated to the nuclear
disarmament talks.
Turning to the Darfur issue, Jiang said China continues to hope
for a resolution through political consultations, addressing the
concerns of all relevant parties.
China also hopes the UN Security Council will pass a resolution
of offering funds to the African Union peacekeeping forces in Sudan
as soon as possible, she added.
In another development, Jiang said an international treaty would
be the best channel to prevent an arms race in space.
China and Russia have submitted many working documents to the
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that have garnered
support from many countries, she noted.
Jiang announced Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico will visit
China from February 5 to 9 at the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily January 31, 2007)
